Sweetheart
by HogwartsPrincess89
Summary: Ronald Weasley has just exited a loveless marriage and is now a single dad. Watch as he deals with the challenges of fatherhood and finding love at last. Mentions of DM/HG and HP/GW. My first try at an OC pairing. AU!
1. Goodbye to Life As He Knew It

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

 **A/N: I've had this idea for a little while and decided to post it in honour of Harry's birthday. This is my first try at an OC pairing so I hope you guys like it! ~HogwartsPrincess89**

Ronald Weasley sat on the couch in his living room with his head in his hands. His life had just been turned upside down. His eyes strayed to the piece of paper on his coffee table, the divorce papers seemed to be mocking him.

After the war his best friend Hermione Granger (now Hermione Malfoy) had set him up with his now ex-wife, Daphne Greengrass. He had been lonely and at the time he had nothing to lose, so he agreed to give her a chance. Daphne had become pregnant while they were dating and he had married her as soon as possible, his family's warnings wasted on deaf ears. His mother had been especially vocal, knowing that Daphne had never wanted children.

He had known this, of course, but Daphne had kept the baby so he pushed the thought away. Soon after their wedding Daphne had given birth to a baby girl. Rose Elena Weasley was absolutely perfect with his red hair and Daphne's brown eyes.

A few months after Rose was born they had found out that Daphne was pregnant again. She had been furious with him, but she kept this baby too. Daphne had given birth just four days ago to another baby girl. Isobelle Marie Weasley had the exact opposite looks of her sister with her mother's black hair and her father's blue eyes. His life had seemed perfect until an hour ago.

His wife had come down the stairs, a determined look in her eyes. "We need to talk." He had nodded and they had moved into the living room. "I want a divorce. We aren't in love and I never wanted children, which we will undoubtedly have many more of if I stay." He had been upset, but not shocked, he had known somewhere in his heart that this may happen. She wasn't happy with him, with them.

He was, however, curious as to the divorce part. Magical divorces were a lengthy and difficult process and as such they were very rare. She seemed to read his mind. "They expedited our divorce since you're a major war hero. All you have to do is sign." "What will happen to our assets, to our **children**?" He had asked.

"You get everything. The house, the car, the children. The only thing I am taking is half of the money in our joint account. That shouldn't affect you much since you kept your personal account." He had nodded sadly and grabbed the pen, signing his name. She had duplicated the papers, taking a set with her and removed her rings, setting them onto the table. She walked away without a word.

"Goodbye Daph." He whispered as the door shut. She had walked away so easily, leaving him a single dad of a one year old and a newborn. He dreaded telling his family, his mother especially. A cry interrupted his misery.

He made his way to his daughters' shared room and picked up the infant from her bassinet, rocking her gently in his arms. "Shh" he soothed the baby. "Daddy's here." He changed her diaper and cradled her in an arm. He turned to face his eldest, who was playing with some toys on her bed. "Hiya Rosie. Are you hungry?" "Hungwy." She replied. He chuckled.

He walked to the kitchen and reheated some pasta he had made yesterday. Another thing he had picked up after the war was cooking. It was a good thing too seeing as he now had to make sure he and his daughters were fed.

A part of him wondered why Daphne hadn't wanted the house, but looking around he understood. It was humble and homey, definitely not something she would be used to. It was only one floor; a fact Daphne had often complained about. The pictures around the house were dominated by his family, there was only one picture of her side of the family. She had taken it, he noticed.

Ding! The charm on the pasta alerted him that it was ready to eat. He fed Rose a bowl and then tucked in himself, attempting to eat around the baby in his arms. When he finished he noticed that it was time for Rose to take a bath. He put Isobelle in her crib and brought the magical baby monitor to the bathroom.

"Bath time Rosie!" She pouted out her lip. "No bath Daddy." He grinned at her stubbornness. "Sorry love, but you're getting a bath whether you want one or not." He picked up the squealing little girl and deposited her in the tub. She played with some toys while he washed her hair.

"Alright, time to get out." "No! I don't wanna." I sighed. "Please Rosie? For Daddy?" She tilted her head to the side, thinking. "Otay." She lifted her arms for him to pick her up. Soon she was in her nightgown and all ready for bed. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead. "Night Rosie." "Night Daddy."

He exited their room softly and made his way to the fire place. He threw some floo inside and stuck his head in. "Charlie's place!" His brother came into view. "Hey Charlie." He greeted. "Ron! What's up?" "Daph left us." He thought it would be better to just get straight to the point. "Please don't tell anyone yet I'm going to tell them tomorrow at Sunday dinner. I was wondering if you could come babysit for a couple hours. I'd like to go out to cope with this but I don't want to leave them alone."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah sure. I wasn't doing anything anyways. Be there in a mo.' " A second later his older brother appeared in his house. "They're in bed." He informed him. Charlie nodded. "Don't get too sloshed." He nodded and dissapparated. He walked inside the bar and ordered their strongest stuff. He downed half his glass in one gulp.

He hadn't been sitting there very long when he heard a voice from beside him. "I'll have a shot of firewhiskey." He turned his head and faced the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her figure was silhouetted in the dim lighting. Her black hair was pulled up into a graceful up do, green eyes sparkling brightly. She had a grace and authority about her. He had never seen her before, either here or at Hogwarts.

She took her glass and sat a few chairs away from him. He decided not to bother her tonight, he had only gotten divorced yesterday. Maybe he would approach her when he was soberer. She left soon after her shot, no one had approached her. Before she left he caught her eye. She smiled at him, and disappeared out the door. He had just started on his fifth drink when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Ron?"

He turned around to face the person, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was. "Bloody hell."


	2. Telling the Family

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Lavender pouted. "Won won! You're not happy to see me?" That was not a good question to ask when Ron was almost drunk and past caring what he said. "Not particularly." She burst into tears and fled. Good riddance. He thought. He drank a while longer and made his way back home. He found Charlie passed out on his couch, his daughters sleeping peacefully.

Next thing he knew he was woken up by a baby's cries. Reckoning that Charlie would get her, he slowly stood up. Wincing at his headache he made his way to the bathroom to take some hangover potion. "Ron! Get up!" Charlie yelled. Ron grunted in response but walked faster to the nursery nonetheless.

"What?" "I have to go home so I can change and be on time so Mum doesn't freak." Ron rolled his eyes. "Alright go, go." "Daddy!" Rose exclaimed upon seeing her father. "Mummy?" Ron's heart broke for his little girl, he seethed at Daphne. How could someone just walk away from their children?

"Mummy left, love. And she isn't coming back." She pouted. "You no leave wight Daddy?" He gathered her in his arms. "Never." She grinned. "Ove you." "Love you too Rosie." He replied, kissing her soft red hair. "Now let's get ready to go to Grandmum and Granddads." It only took him 15 minutes to dress both girls, a new record. "Daddy my hair!"

Ron's eyes widened. He'd forgotten about that. What did he know about doing little girl's hair? He mentally shook himself. He was just going to have to learn. Besides, Ginny or one of his sister-in-laws could fix it in a couple of minutes.

He got out a scrunchie and a hair brush. He gently brushed out his daughter's hair and gathered on the side of her head, who needs a normal ponytail when you can have a side one? He thought he had done pretty good for a first attempt, it was a little messy but still presentable.

There was no way he would be able to floo both of them at the same time and he did not want to leave either of them here alone. He slung Izzy's diaper bag over his shoulder, cradled the gurgling baby in one arm and took Rosie's hand, apparating away.

They materialized a couple of feet from the door. Ron checked them both over for splinching and sighed in relief when he found them both in one piece. He took a breath, steeling himself for what was to come, and walked through the front door of his childhood home. He was immediately greeted by a mob of people.

There was Bill, Fleur, Victoire and Dominique; Charlie was there as well as Mum and Dad; Percy, his wife Audrey, Molly and Lucy were present, George and a pregnant Angelina were there as well with Fred II; Harry, Ginny, James, and Albus were present; and Draco, Hermione, Kassiopoeia and Scorpius.

Hermione raced over and picked up a giggling Rose. "And how's my Goddaughter today?" He had named Draco and Hermione Rosie's godparents (he had wanted Harry and Hermione but he allowed Draco to be Godfather to appease Daphne). Speaking of the man, he and Ron got along quite well now. They had formed a tentative relationship to make their (at that time) girlfriends happy but it had grown into a friendship.

He thought there would be a fight over godparents when Izzy was born but to his relief, Daphne hadn't put up a fight when he suggested Harry and Ginny. Hermione put the toddler down and eyed her hair. "Did your father do your hair?" Rosie nodded. Hermione giggled. "He did a good job considering." "I thought it was pretty good." He defended.

He was saved by his father immediately coming over and taking baby Isobelle from her father's arms. "Hello darling." He looked around the room and saw the question on everyone's faces. They all wanted to know where Daphne was. Thankfully, no one got to ask him because at that moment dinner was served.

Ron was scooping out his seconds when the question was finally broached. "So where's Daphne?" His mother asked. "She left us." He replied, holding up his bare ring finger. His mother went to say more but his dad shushed her. "Wait until the children aren't around Molly dear."

Ron sighed in relief. Rosie didn't need any more reminding that she no longer had a mother. The rest of the meal passed in tense small talk. Finally all of the kids left, accompanied by Charlie who had volunteered because he already knew about Daphne. The moment the door to the kitchen closed his mother rounded on him. "I told you she didn't want children. You weren't in love either. Ronald what were you thinking?"

He grit his teeth. "I was thinking, **mum** , that I didn't want my unborn child to grow up without a mother. Besides, Daph and I could tolerate each other, or so I thought, and manage to give a child a happy life. That seems to have backfired anyways." "Even so…" "Mum. Ron knows all this. He's probably beating himself up over this anyways, he doesn't need you to make him feel worse. He need sus to be there for him, like family's supposed to be." He had never loved his sister more than in that moment.

"Thanks Gin." "Anytime." His mother's mouth pursed and then she sighed. "I'm sorry Ron. If you like I could pack you some leftovers for tomorrow night. I know you can cook but…" Ron would normally have been offended by the offer but he understood it for what it was. "That would be great. Thanks Mum." She smiled softly at him.

Bill stood up. "Now that that's settled, Fleur and I have an announcement to make." Fleur stood up too. "I'm pregnant!" Congratulations rang around the room. "20 galleons it's a boy this time. I'll get the betting pool started." George informed the room. Bill rolled his eyes. Just then Charlie came back in. "Is it safe now?" He joked. "Ron Rosie fell asleep on the couch, isn't it her bedtime soon?"

He glanced up at the clock. "Yeah, we should probably get going." "Come to ours for dinner on Tuesday?" Ginny questioned. "Sure." He replied. Rosie and Al got along famously and James was quieter around babies. He picked up his sleeping daughters and threw the diaper bag back over his shoulder. "See you guys next week." And then he disapparated.

He carefully deposited Izzy in her crib and slung the diaper bag onto the change table. Then he carefully dressed Rose in her pajamas and tucked her into bed. He kissed both of them and left the room. He laid down in bed, still quite awake. His mind strayed to his ex-wife. He didn't mourn their relationship, only the way she had treated their children who would now grow up without a mother.

He shook his head and his thoughts unconsciously slid to the raven-haired beauty he had seen in the bar. He shook his head at the thought. He wasn't ready for a relationship yet. Besides who would want to date a man with two children? He rolled over. At least he had his girls. The lights of his life. Smiling at the thought of them, he fell asleep.


End file.
